Tobias E. McCandless

Tobias Edward McCandless (25 November 1838-17 October 1902) was a member of the US House of Representatives from Minnesota (S) from 1878 to 1884 and the US Socialist Party's nominee for President of the United States in 1884.

Biography
Tobias Edward McCandless was born on 25 November 1838 in Duluth, Minnesota to a family of craftsmen. McCandless worked as a clock maker during his youth, and he would be drafted into the US Army during the American Civil War in 1861. McCandless served in Kentucky, Tennessee, and in the American South during the war, and he was discharged with the rank of Sergeant. McCandless' experiences in the South scarred him, as he was opposed to the destruction of civilian homes and southern infrastructure. McCandless became a journalist in Minnesota after the war, and he was a major voice of pacifism as the editor of The Duluth Worker. McCandless became a socialist after the US Socialist Party was founded, and he ran for Mayor of Duluth in 1870, a venture that succeeded. In 1878, he was elected to the US House of Representatives, and he won the Socialist nomination for President of the United States in 1884. McCandless was popular among the working class, but no electors voted for him; he won 13% of the popular vote in Minnesota. McCandless returned to journalism afterwards, and he died in 1902.